India slips two spots in English proficiency rankings: Report

General English proficiency in China has improved year-on-year, but is still lingering at the intermediate to basic level, the report said.

India has slipped two spots compared to last year in English proficiency rankings while China has improved its ranking, according to a new report. India is placed at 22nd spot in the new report released by Swedish education company EF Education First here yesterday. In 2015, India was placed at 20th spot by the same study.

Meanwhile, General English proficiency in China has improved year-on-year, but is still lingering at the intermediate to basic level, the report said.

China which in recent putting an emphasis on English education rose eight places to 39th among 72 countries and regions figuring well above Pakistan which was placed at 48th spot.

In China residents of Shanghai and Hong Kong were found to be the most proficient in English, state-run China Daily reported.

The report is based on the EF Standard English Test results of 950,000 adults from 72 countries and regions across the world. The test, which consists of reading and listening, was developed by Education First.

Elsewhere in the world, the report found that adults from the Netherlands are the best English speakers among people from non-English speaking countries. The Danes and Swedes ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

Singapore ranked first in Asia for English proficiency followed by Malaysia, Philippines and India.